A 55-year-old man admitted to throwing his own dog into traffic, police say, trying to "put the dog out of its misery," he claims.

Michael Lee Britton was arrested and charged with animal cruelty, assault on a police officer, and resisting arrest.

"He had said to somebody at the scene or jail, he was trying to put the dog out of its misery, because it had been shot with an arrow," said Ocala Police Lt. Brian Young.

Put the dog out of its misery, Britton told police, by picking up the 30-pound pup and throwing it into oncoming traffic at the busy 2800 block of SW 24th Avenue in Ocala.

According to Britton's arrest affidavit, the dog was hit and run over by two separate vehicles as numerous witnesses watched in horror.

Lt. Young said when police arrived on scene, witnesses were pointing out Britton as he paced the roadside. The dog had taken off into some nearby woods.

According to the arrest report, Britton resisted being handcuffed and was aggressive to one of the officers prompting police to user a Taser.

Police found the dog, not in the best shape and without any arrow wounds, raising more questions about Britton's motive.

"The story about the arrow and all that is obviously false," Lt. Young said.

The dog, named "Yoshi" according to Britton, was renamed "Buck" by police officers. After being released from the veterinarian on Wednesday night -- miraculously with no broken bones -- police think maybe he should be called "Lucky."

As everything is sorted out, the dog is at the home of one of the responding officers.